


Tears for the Fallen

by Hitori_Bocchi



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Background Femslash, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, My First Work in This Fandom, Parent Death, Sumia!Lucina so also Chrom!Cynthia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 21:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13326675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitori_Bocchi/pseuds/Hitori_Bocchi
Summary: A glimpse of a budding romance amidst war and death.





	Tears for the Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the original future timeline, before the children time travel. That said, this is not a happy story, folks. You've been warned.

Severa set the last sword on the rack and sighed. She sat down on an upturned rusty pail for a moment, taking a much needed break before she set about sorting the lances. It was hot in the tent that was serving as a makeshift armory, and as she wiped at her face with the back of a dirtied hand the dirt mixed with her sweat to leave a black streak on her brow.

  
Organizing the weapons was something she did when she needed an escape. The task required enough focus to keep her from worrying about those off fighting in battle, but was simple enough that her mind could rest at the same time. When the war had first started her self-assigned chore took several hours to complete. Nowadays the task took but a third of that time, as the army had few serviceable weapons left and even fewer soldiers to wield them.

  
The wind carried the smell of smoke and the heat of the fires from the current battle which was being fought about a half-day's march from where they had bivouacked. From the armory's location near the center of camp she could hear a wave of cheers wash over the camp, a sure sign that some fellow soldiers had returned from the battlefield.

  
Then, as quickly as the cheers had started, they ended. The camp was suddenly deathly silent. Irritated, she knit her brows together and listened for any sign that the people outside were still doing their assigned tasks. There was still a war to be fought and work to be done; the celebrating could wait until nightfall.

  
She stood and stomped over to the opening in the tent's canvas, intent on ordering any slackers back to work. She stepped outside and immediately froze, her mind slowly processing the scene before her.  
The scream was the first thing that registered; a desperate, heart-wrenching cry. Cynthia stood alone in the center of a wide circle of soldiers, staring in disbelief at an injured pegasus lying on the ground before her. Her knees buckled and she fell hard to the ground, her body trembling with sobs.

  
The soldiers that had gathered bowed their heads as they discreetly glanced from the pegasus to Cynthia and then among one another.

  
“It's the queen's mount!”

“Saw the princess and collapsed right at her feet.”

  
“It returned on its own, limping and riderless.”

  
“You know what they say...”

  
“Yeah, and with all that blood...”

  
The whispers reached Severa, breaking her from her stupor. Watching as the soldiers circled around the princess began to reverently take a knee, Severa instead took a few lumbering steps toward Cynthia.

  
There was a commotion off to one side. Severa turned in time to see Lucina break through the wall of soldiers and stumble into the circle's center. She stared with eyes wide at the wounded pegasus, instantly going pale at the sight of the queen's ensign hanging tattered and bloodied from its neck.

  
Lucina absently reacted to Cynthia's sobs, looking at her with a blank expression on her face. She walked to her with sluggish, unsteady steps and sat down beside her, instinctively taking the crying Cynthia into her arms.

  
Severa took in the sight of them together and frowned. Lucina stared over Cynthia's shoulder in Severa's direction, and a shiver ran down Severa's back at the empty look in Lucina's eyes.

  
_She's in shock. They're both in shock,_ she realized a moment too late, as Cynthia passed out in Lucina's arms. Lucina slowly started rocking back and forth with Cynthia clutched to her chest.

  
“Brady, I know you're always loafing around out here! Take these two to the infirmary!” someone shouted, and as all eyes turned to her Severa realized it was she that had barked the order. Reluctantly assuming command, she gritted her teeth and forged a path through the growing crowd to Lucina and Cynthia.

  
Brady appeared seconds later, shoving through the onlookers to the left. Severa was pleased to see Noire fast on his heels.

  
“Lemme take 'er, Lucina,” he offered with a hand on Lucina's shoulder, but she batted it away with a growled 'no' and tightened her hold on Cynthia.

  
“Lucina,” Brady said sternly. He shared a concerned glance with Severa and Noire and then grasped Lucina's elbow this time. She stopped rocking and then slowly looked up at him. Severa saw Brady shudder when Lucina's unfocused gaze passed straight through him.

  
“Lemme take 'er. I promise ya she'll be safe,” he assured her. With a swift pull on her elbow he broke Lucina's hold on Cynthia and easily lifted the small girl into his arms. “See ya there, Noire,” he said and quickly set off.

  
Noire nodded and then offered her hand to Lucina, but Lucina rejected it with a small shake of her head. Unsure of what to do, Noire looked at Severa for help.

  
“Go with Noire, ” Severa grumbled, her patience waning.

  
“But... Mom's pegasus...” Lucina mumbled, her body moving subconsciously as she stood and ambled toward the animal.

  
Severa stopped her with a firm grip on her arm.

  
“Look at me,” she instructed, and Lucina slowly faced her. Severa slid her hand down to hold Lucina's and offered a small smile, though her eyes betrayed her sadness. “Cynthia needs you with her, Lucina.”

  
Lucina closed her eyes. A moment passed before she opened them, and Severa sighed with some small measure of relief when she saw the empty look had disappeared from Lucina's eyes, though only to replaced by utter grief.

  
“Let's go,” Noire coaxed softly, having noticed the change in Lucina's demeanor. She placed an arm around Lucina's waist to support her. There was no resistance this time, and as Lucina walked away her hand slipped from Severa's.

  
“Wait a minute.” Severa ran over to the pegasus. After a minute's reflection, she pulled a knife from her belt and cut the banner from its neck. “Take this with you,” she said, tossing it to Noire. “Give it to Princess Lissa. Tell her what's happened.”

  
The soldiers parted to let them through, bowing their heads once again as Lucina shuffled by them.

  
With Lucina and Cynthia in good hands, Severa efficiently moved onto the next matter.

  
“Yarne! Are you out here?” she called, scanning the crowd for his tell-tale ears. He hesitantly emerged from a group of fighters to her right.

  
“Severa, did you really have to call me out like that? I don't enjoy having everyone's atten-”

  
“This is not the time for your existential whining!” she angrily shouted, causing him to cower. She crossed her arms with a huff. “I called you because you're the best one for the job. Find Owain and bring him to the infirmary. They'll want him there.”

  
“A-all right.” He sighed resignedly and then transformed in an instant. After a short sniff of the air, he swiftly set off for his target.

  
Severa watched him until he disappeared behind a row of tents. She sighed, her shoulders drooping as she turned to the pegasus with a heavy heart. Gently hugging its head to her chest, she combed her fingers through its matted mane. If she had learned anything from her mother, it was that the relationship with one's mount was just as important as the relationships with one's friends and family, and the queen's mount had certainly served her well all these years.

  
“Thank you, old girl,” she whispered with a sad smile. “You've performed admirably.”

  
It gave a quiet, labored breath in return. Minutes passed as she stood cradling its head, soothing the animal as best she could. Eventually it fell asleep and so she turned back around. Most of the soldiers still remained, watching her expectantly.

  
“You three,” she snapped, pointing at the group of men closest to her. “This pegasus has served as honorably as any other soldier in this army. See to it that she gets cleaned up and fed.”

“Yes, ma'am!”

  
She glared at the others that still lingered. “There's work to be done. Get to it!” she ordered and they dispersed without question. She let out a shaky breath as she turned to look out toward the line of fires marking the encroaching battlefield.

  
_Where are you, Mother?_

  
She dried her eyes with a rough swipe of her hand, denying her tears the chance to fall.

  
_The queen- your best friend- is dead._

* * *

 

_She's totally defenseless right now, the fool,_ Severa grumbled internally. She had her arms crossed in her signature stance, leaning back against a tree as she silently watched over Lucina.

  
With the day's chores completed and night quickly setting in, Severa had been on her way to check up on Cynthia when she saw Lucina hurriedly exit Lissa's tent. She'd secretly followed her, growing angrier with every step. Lucina had sent her guards away minutes after she exited the tent. They left her alone without a second thought, and Severa fought the urge to reprimand them then and there. Instead she tailed Lucina, watching as she marched straight out of camp and entered a small copse nearby.

  
It was there in the privacy of the trees that Lucina finally broke down and cried, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. The moment was intimately raw, and Severa felt some shame at having intruded upon it. She hung her head, averting her eyes to give Lucina what little privacy she could without leaving her unattended. Minutes passed by in which the trees selflessly absorbed Lucina's anguished cries until finally, having grown exhausted from her efforts, she wept softly into her hands.

  
“You need to stop dismissing your guards,” Severa growled, revealing her presence as she pushed off the tree and stomped toward Lucina. “It's not safe to leave camp on your own.”

  
Lucina started and hastily wiped at her cheeks in a vain attempt to hide her tears.

  
“Oh, it's just you,” she mumbled as Severa drew closer.

  
“Yeah, it's _just_ me.”

  
“I didn't mean it like that.”

  
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Severa replied, waving her hand dismissively. Then she reached it behind Lucina and roughly pulled her into a hug. Startled at first, Lucina eventually returned the embrace, closing her eyes as she bowed her head to rest it on Severa's shoulder.

 

“I was afraid you might have been Cynthia. I don't want her to see me cry. I want to be strong for her.”

  
“That's ridiculous,” Severa scoffed. “Strong people cry, you know.”

  
A few beats of silence passed before Lucina quietly uttered, “You don't cry, Severa.”

  
Severa took a deep breath and sighed. She loosened her hold on Lucina. “Maybe I'm not as strong as you think I am.”

“You _are_ strong. I know it.”

  
“How's Cynthia?” Severa asked, changing the subject. She felt Lucina shake her head as the arms around her waist tightened their grip.

  
“She was awake for a little bit but she wouldn't eat anything. Now she's asleep in Aunt Lissa's tent.” She sniffled. “She was so young when Dad died.”

  
_So were you,_ Severa thought, but she said nothing. Instead she scanned the treeline around them with a trained eye. Risen could attack at any moment, but most especially at night.

  
“She didn't have the chance to spend a lot of time with him, but she's always had Mom. Mom's death is going to be harder for her to accept.”

  
Lucina reluctantly pulled out of the hug and wiped at her newly fallen tears.

  
Severa absently reached out and cupped her cheek. “She'll be fine, Lucina,” she assured her, gently brushing away a stray tear with her thumb. “She still has _you_.”

  
Lucina was staring down at her in awe, and Severa suddenly realized what she'd done. Embarrassed by the forthright intimacy of her words and actions, she tried to pull her hand away. Lucina quickly grabbed it and held it tightly in her own.

  
“Thank you for earlier,” she said, smiling gratefully. She raised Severa's hand to her lips and gently kissed it.

  
“You don't need to thank me,” Severa coolly mumbled, though her cheeks were flush. She pulled her hand free and tromped back to the tree she'd been leaning against earlier. She sat down at its base with a grunt, its wide trunk offering support as well as protection. Lucina hadn't followed her, and Severa looked up to see Lucina staring at her with a crestfallen expression.

  
“What?” Severa huffed, her cheeks still blush. “We can't stand there like that all night. Come sit down,” she said, patting the space next to her. Lucina nodded and sat down beside her with a small sigh.

  
“How's Phila?” Lucina asked as she linked their arms together.

  
“Phila?”

  
Lucina smiled fondly. “Mom's pegasus. She named her after-”

  
“Ugh, believe me; I _know_ who Phila was,” Severa groaned with a roll of her eyes, her petulance earning a faint though sorrowful smile from Lucina.

  
“I'm sure your mother is safe, Severa,” she said gently.

  
“The pegasus has been bathed and fed,” Severa responded, ignoring the subject of her mother.

  
Lucina gave a small, disapproving shake of her head at Severa's behavior.

  
“Thankfully, her injuries are minor,” Severa continued. “With a few weeks' rest she'll be ready to serve again.”

  
It should have been welcome news, but with their sides touching Severa could feel Lucina shudder at the report.

  
“Cynthia will want to fight now,” Lucina stated solemnly. “The lack of pegasi was the only thing keeping her off the battlefield this whole time.” She started crying again, but this time made no attempt to stop her tears. “I don't want that. I don't want her fighting. Is that selfish of me?”

  
Severa didn't have an answer, so she pulled her arm free of Lucina's and placed it around Lucina's shoulders, bringing Lucina closer to her. Lucina cried against her, and Severa could feel her tears as they left warm, wet trails against her skin.

  
“I'm so tired of it all,” Lucina sobbed, her voice breaking under the strain of her emotions. “I'm tired of watching powerlessly as everybody around me dies. I'm tired of losing the people that I love. Even you-”  
She cut her statement short, but Severa finished it without hesitation.

  
“Even I will die before you.”

  
Lucina brusquely pulled away and glared at her, her eyes burning with anger.

  
“Don't say it!”

  
Severa looked Lucina directly in the eyes, the Royal Brand in Lucina's left eye glowing brightly with her raised emotions. It served as a stalwart reminder of their most important relationship: the princess and her guard.

  
She frowned, but her resolve didn't waver. “You are the Exalt and the wielder of Falchion. We cannot afford to lose you, and therefore it is my duty to protect you, Lucina. I came to terms with what that means long ago.”

  
“Stop!” Lucina cried, clenching her fists by her sides. Her tears fell steadily down her cheeks, and her whole body shook with the effort of maintaining her composure. “Severa, please... I don't want- I _can't_ think about that. Not now. Not tonight.”

  
Remorse pierced Severa like an arrow and she looked away for a moment, ashamed to have caused Lucina more pain.

  
“I'm sorry,” she said, and slowly turned back to face her. She hesitantly reached a hand behind Lucina's head and gently pulled her down to kiss her forehead, her lips lingering there for a moment before she pulled Lucina tightly to her. “I'm sorry,” she repeated, “for everything.”

  
Lucina let out a tired sigh, her whole body folding beneath her as if all her strength suddenly abandoned her. She collapsed against Severa, who gently guided her to the ground, her head now resting in Severa's lap.

  
“How much longer must we endure this?” Lucina wondered, and Severa could hear the exhaustion in her voice. Without thinking, she began stroking Lucina's hair.

  
Lucina let out another heavy sigh. “I wish there was some way to go back and prevent all of this from ever happening, that there was some way to challenge this fate.” She spoke softly, her words only audible due to the quiet of the night that surrounded them.

  
Severa continued stroking Lucina's hair as her breaths grew slower, and minutes later Lucina was asleep. She studied Lucina's peaceful sleeping profile, the pain of her loss mercifully erased in slumber. A droplet appeared on Lucina's cheek, followed quickly by others. Surprised by them, Severa touched a hand to her eyes to find that she was crying.

  
“If only your wish would come true, Lucina,” she said softly, her tears falling freely from her cheeks.

* * *

 

Severa moaned as she rolled her neck in an attempt to loosen her stiff shoulders. With a grunt she took another practice swing with her sword and started a new set of repetitions. Even though the sun had not been up long it was already hot and her sweat stung her eyes. With another twenty swings down, she stopped and wiped her brow dry with her arm.

  
She glanced out the corner of her eye at Lucina, who hadn't moved in nearly an hour. The princess sat hugging her knees to her chest, staring fondly into the blue, cloudless sky. Occasionally she'd wipe at her eyes, no doubt fighting against more tears, but the action did little to erase the trails left from her tears the night before.

  
An unfamiliar footfall to Severa's right caught her attention.

  
“Halt!” she yelled, and in one fluid movement she pulled a small hatchet from her belt and tossed it in a warning shot at the trespasser. The person stopped and watched unflinchingly as the hatchet thwacked against the tree beside her and fell to the ground.

  
“Oh, Kjelle.” No longer on alert, Severa shifted out of her ready stance and sheathed her sword. “I didn't recognize your footfall without the weight of your armor.”

  
Kjelle bent and picked up the hatchet, testing its weight for a moment before she looked up at Severa.

  
“You're still turning your wrist,” she criticized. “Do it like this.” She tossed it at a tree behind Severa and it stuck in its trunk with a dull thunk.

  
“I'll work on it,” Severa grumbled as she pulled the hatchet from the tree and returned it to her belt. She turned around to find Kjelle beside her, eyeing her with a scrutinizing stare.

  
“You look terrible,” Kjelle commented bluntly.

  
Severa set her hands on her hips with a tired sigh. “She fell asleep out here,” she said, tossing her head toward Lucina, who hadn't reacted to Kjelle's arrival. “I stood watch all night.”

  
“So this is where she's hiding. The officers have been looking for her.”

  
Severa growled disapprovingly. “They just want to pester her over trivial things they can handle perfectly well on their own. None of those old farts ever listen to what she says anyway.” She crossed her arms with an angry humph, and the two watched as Lucina picked a flower and started slowly pulling its petals one by one.

  
“She needs time to mourn. She's just a kid.”

“We're all just kids,” Kjelle clarified with a sad, understanding smile. She took a deep breath and sighed wistfully before turning to face Severa. “Your mother's returned.”

  
Severa's heart leapt at the news, though she'd never admit it. She studied Lucina for any kind of reaction to Kjelle's message, but Lucina gave no indication that she'd heard. Severa nodded a simple acknowledgment to Kjelle, but kept calm out of consideration for her present company.

  
Kjelle's parents had died over a year ago, alongside Severa's father. Their deaths occurred in the middle of a devastating trend, as their group of friends had lost parents before that battle and continued to lose parents one by one afterward. With the Queen's death the day before, only four of the people in their close knit group still had living parents, all of them mothers.

  
“Go greet your mother, Severa. I'll stay with her,” Kjelle offered, pointing her thumb at Lucina.

  
Severa shifted her stance nervously, hesitant to leave Lucina's side. “She may want to head back soon, to visit with Cynthia.”

  
“I'll see to it that she arrives safely,” Kjelle promised, patting the sword on her hip. “I'll keep the officers away from her, too. Now go, and take a nap while you're in camp. You'll be useless in a fight if you don't get any sleep.”

  
Severa nodded, knowing that Kjelle was right.

  
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Stealing one last glance at Lucina, she turned and headed back to camp.

  
She found her mother with her pegasus by the stream that served as the encampment's western boundary. Cordelia was diligently scrubbing the pegasus clean, the water pooling by its feet the color of rust.

Severa stood aside and watched her for awhile, her frown deepening each time Cordelia stopped mid-movement and stared blankly ahead. Seconds would pass and then she'd shake her head and continue her chore with a grim smile.

  
The look Cordelia had in those moments, Severa understood sorrowfully, was the same expression that Cynthia and Lucina had worn yesterday. It was the unmistakable look of someone whose world had shattered with the death of a loved one.

  
“Mother,” she called tentatively, stepping from her hiding spot.

  
Cordelia froze and then turned slowly to her, a happy smile appearing on her lips.

“Severa.”

  
_She's forcing herself to smile_ , Severa noted, but she still ran to Cordelia and hugged her.

  
Cordelia returned the embrace, holding Severa tightly to her and rocking them side to side.

  
“Oh, Severa. I've missed you terribly.”

  
“Mother,” Severa started, her voice cracking under the strain of fighting her tears, “ Queen Sumia-”

  
“I know, dear,” Cordelia sighed, and as she kissed the crown of Severa's head Severa could feel her mother's tears in her hair. “I know.”

  
They stayed that way for several minutes, both silently mourning, until Cordelia finally broke away. She bent and pulled something from the bag at her feet.

  
“Can I entrust this to you, Severa?” she asked, passing Severa a small, palm-sized pouch.

  
Severa accepted it without question.

  
“It's Sumia's wedding ring,” Cordelia explained with a sad smile. “She wanted Cynthia to have it. I don't have much time to spend here, so I might not get the chance to visit with her. Would you get that pouch to her, please? And give her my sympathies.”

  
Severa simply nodded and stared apprehensively at the pouch in her hand, its weight suddenly a hundred times heavier with the knowledge of what it contained.

  
Cordelia hugged her again and Severa closed her eyes, relieved to feel her mother's arms around her. Her hands clenched Cordelia's tunic in a desperate hold as images of the distressed Lucina and Cynthia flashed through her mind.

  
_Mom's alive_ , she told herself repeatedly as she buried her face in Cordelia's chest. More images appeared: Yarne, too young to fully understand his mother's death, waiting anxiously by the castle gate for weeks until he finally gave up on her return. Gerome's small hands on Minerva's snout, doing his best to console her though his hands trembled with his sobs.

  
_Mom's alive_...  
Kjelle's bloodied knuckles from beating the ground in her grief, Nah returning to camp gaunt and disheveled after disappearing for a week, Laurent hiding his tears with the brim of his mother's hat.

  
_Mom's alive_...  
Noire's cold, distant stare as she shot arrow after arrow for hours on end, unresponsive to anyone that dared approach her. Inigo dancing by his mother's grave as tears flowed down his cheeks.

  
_Mom's still alive_...

  
Severa opened her eyes when she felt her mother's arms drop, and she pulled away enough to see Cordelia looking forlornly at the battlefield from whence she'd come.

  
“Why?” Cordelia wondered aloud, her voice tainted with a painstaking mixture of grief and denial. “Why am I always the one left behind?”

  
_What?_

  
Severa roughly pushed her mother away and glared at her. “What, would you rather you had died, too?” she screamed angrily.

  
Cordelia shook her head. “Severa, that's not what-”

  
“If that's what you wish then go ahead and do it!”

  
Cordelia was stunned speechless at first, but then she smiled compassionately as she reached a hand out to brush Severa's cheek. “Severa, you don't really mean that,” she said calmly.

  
_Don't do this_ , Severa's conscience screamed as Cynthia's agonized cry from yesterday replayed in her mind.

  
“Sure I do!” she growled, swatting away Cordelia's hand. “You'd be doing me a favor by saving me from having to worry about whether or not you'll come home each time!”

  
“Severa,” Cordelia sighed tiredly with a shake of her head. “Please, don't do this now.”

  
“Fine, I won't!” Severa snapped. She quickly turned and stomped away.

  
“Severa!” Cordelia called after her.

  
There was a certtain desperation in her voice that made Severa pause for a brief moment, but then she stubbornly continued on her way without looking back.

\- - -  
Her mother's claim of little time had been true. Severa secretly tracked Cordelia as she spent the better part of the day in meetings with the commanding officers, no doubt advising them on their future strategy. By early evening, Severa learned that her mother was prepared to return to the battlefield, bringing with her what little provisions the main camp could spare.

  
She had made no attempt to reconcile with her mother When word came that Cordelia would be leaving soon, she conveniently assigned herself to mess duty, thus too busy to say goodbye. And yet she found herself abandoning that duty to observe from the privacy of a nearby hill as it was Lucina that bid Cordelia a fond farewell in her stead.

  
She watched as they passionately discussed something, which Severa assumed to be the late queen after Cordelia pulled Lucina tightly to her and ran her fingers through her hair, both of them openly weeping.

There was a brief pause in their conversation, and Lucina eventually turned and guiltily pointed at Severa, who quickly turned her face away and crossed her arms with a huff.

  
_Thanks for ratting me out._

  
She could feel her mother's warm gaze on her back, and she chanced a glance over to see Cordelia gently smilng at her. It was a mother's smile, filled with nothing but love and adoration. Yet as they held each other's gaze, an unexpected chill ran down Severa's back and she shivered involuntarily.

  
The moment broken, Severa grudgingly kept watching as Cordelia returned her attention to Lucina, pulling her into another tight hug. Considering Lucina's hopeful expression, Severa had no doubts that her mother was whispering encouraging words in the young Exalt's ears.

  
_She always has to be a perfect mother, even to children not her own,_ she thought with a roll of her eyes.

  
Cordelia slowly broke the embrace, and Severa watched impassively as both Cordelia and Lucina wiped at falling tears. With one last, loving glance back at Severa, Cordelia turned and mounted her pegasus. After a quick check of their surroundings the two were airborne, and Cordelia was headed back to the battlefield.

  
Despite her stubborn show of indifference, Severa couldn't bring herself to look away from Cordelia's figure until she'd completely disappeared from sight.

* * *

 

The cries of an owl pealed through the night, waking Severa with a start. The tattered cape turned blanket she shared with Lucina fell from Severa's shoulders as she instinctively grabbed the short sword that lay beside her with one hand and threw her other arm over Lucina. Realizing there was no immediate threat to their safety, she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. She opened her eyes a moment later and looked down at Lucina. Thankfully, Lucina remained asleep, a small bundle of wildflowers still tucked beneath her nose.

  
Severa scanned the sky for the offending owl, but seeing nothing, she turned her attentions elsewhere and used the sword to stoke the dwindling fire at her feet. Satisfied with the new flames, she leaned back against the thin log they were using as a pillow. With a steady hand, she delicately lifted one of the flowers from Lucina's chest, taking care to not wake her. She frowned as she moved it beneath her own nose and took a deep breath.

  
The flower's aroma helped to combat the putrid smells from the devastation that surrounded them, but it offered little protection from the memories that flashed through her mind.

  
She sighed as she tucked the blanket around herself once more.

  
The day had started with orders to break camp and march toward the capitol. The senior officers called it a homecoming. Everyone else called it by another name: retreat.

  
Severa had no doubts that the order to march had been made under her mother's counsel during the brief time Cordelia had returned to camp. The fighting had moved too close to camp; anyone could see that.  Yet as a pegasus knight, Cordelia need only take flight to see both the camp and the battlefield, thus she had the best vantage point to determine which route to follow on the march.

It was this reasoning that made Severa shiver, and she poked the firewood again with the sword.

  
Severa knew that had her mother seen the recently destroyed village littered with newly rotting corpses, she would never have suggested that the ragtag, downtrodden remnants of their army march past it on their return to the capitol. This attack had to have happened last night, and the village's close proximity to the safe-haven of the capitol did little to assuage the soldiers' fears that theirs was a hopeless battle.

  
There was a pyre on the outskirts of the ruined village, it's great plume of smoke occasionally blocking out the gibbous moon. Severa took another sniff of the wildflower, hoping to dispel the stench of burning flesh from her nose. With the army taking refuge in the rubble of the village, burning the corpses of its former inhabitants was an unfortunate necessity, lest they return as Risen.

  
Severa furrowed her brow at the sound of approaching footsteps.

  
_Light, with a slight, somewhat clumsy drag: Cynthia_.

  
She turned to acknowledge the younger princess' presence and instantly scowled at the sight of Cynthia wandering around unaccompanied.

  
“You need to stop slipping away from your escorts.” Despite her quiet tone, Severa's words carried the full bite of her disappointment. “You and your sister both, I swear. What are you doing walking around at this hour?”

  
“Couldn't sleep,” Cynthia answered, her response uncharacteristically laconic. She sat down beside the fire hugged her knees to her chest, showing her back to Severa.

  
_Great. Now I have to supervise both of them_. Severa groaned before making another quick scan of her surroundings. There were two sentries posted twenty yards away in each cardinal direction, providing enough buffer against any potential attacks that she felt comfortable with the notion of returning to sleep.

  
“Here,” she said, passing the flower over Cynthia's shoulder. “Hold this under your nose. It might help.”

  
Cynthia accepted it with a muffled thanks.

  
“Don't thank me, thank your sister. It was her idea.”

  
Silence fell between them. Cynthia's shoulders shook with her sobs, but Severa pretended to not notice.

  
“You fought with your mother again, didn't you.”

  
Severa glared at her. “What makes you think that?” she asked defensively.

  
“Lucina told me you refused to see her off yesterday.”

  
“Of course she did,” Severa mumbled as she rolled her eyes. “What's it matter to you if I did?” she asked, immediately regretting her rash reaction.

_Idiot_ , she swore to herself, _she just lost her mother_.

  
“It's just that- Well, I think-” Cynthia paused a moment to take a deep breath and then gave a heavy sigh. “You're right. It's none of my business,” she said with an uncertain tone, her quick submission surprising Severa enough to look at her.

  
Cynthia's wry smile was a clear indicator that she was uncomfortable with the subject, and Severa was content to not pursue it any further.

  
“Here,” Cynthia said, holding a small pouch out to her. “You should have these.”

  
“What's this now?” Severa asked as she accepted the pouch. She eyed it suspiciously as she opened it, having recognized it as the same pouch she'd delivered to Cynthia yesterday.

  
“Those were in there, too,” Cynthia explained as Severa carefully poured the contents of the pouch into her hand. “That one's your mother's wedding ring, isn't it?” she asked, pointing to the ring strung on a thin chain.

  
Severa lifted it by the chain, holding it before her to study it in the flickering light of the fire. “I think so,” she uttered, her voice catching as she remembered the last time she'd seen the ring.

  
_After Father's funeral,_ she thought, recalling the moment with a frown.

She had sat quietly at the table, watching with a frown as her mother pulled the ring from her finger and placed it on a chain.

“Mother, did you even love him?” she asked angrily as she watched her mother slip on the necklace and then tuck the ring under her tunic.

  
“He was a good man, Severa.” Cordelia answered. She reached out and gently caressed Severa's cheek. “He was your father. I did and always will love him for the amazing gift he gave me.”

  
“But you weren't in love with him,” Severa accused, having detected the ambivalence in her mother's voice.

  
Cordelia frowned and dropped her hand from Severa's cheek. She slowly shook her head as she picked up the mug of lukewarm tea that sat before her.

  
“No.”

  
“Then why did you marry him?” Severa growled, her voice rising with her anger.

  
Her mother took a deep breath and sighed. “I wanted a child, Severa, and it was no secret that your father was in love with me. He was a very dear friend and I was fond of him, so when he asked me to marry him, I accepted. I had hoped that maybe over time I would come to fall in love with him, too, but I never did.”

  
“Because you loved someone else,” Severa concluded bitterly. She hadn't read her mother's ridiculous romance novels for nothing. And she'd heard the whispers in the castle hallways, about the way her mother blindly followed the late Exalt and his family wherever they went.

  
Her mother was quiet for a moment as she stared into the cup of tea she held.

  
“Yes,” Cordelia had finally admitted with a bittersweet smile.

  
“Severa?” Cynthia called gently, shaking Severa from her memory. “You okay? That is your mom's ring, right?”

  
“Yeah,” Severa answered, realizing that she must have been staring at the ring for too long. She slipped the necklace over her head and tucked it under her tunic, just as her mother had.

  
“What's this other one?” she asked, holding the ring closer for better inspection. It was a simple, thin silver band, void of any markings or decoration, and yet vaguely familiar.

  
Cynthia seemed to perk up at her interest. “Dunno,” she admitted. “I remember Mom always wearing one, though. There were two in the pouch, and since your mom's wedding ring was in there, I figured the second one must belong to her. Owain thinks they might have something to do with the old Pegasus Knights, like some sort of status symbol.”

  
Severa studied the ring she held for another minute before slipping it onto her finger. It fit almost perfectly.

  
“Maybe you could ask your mom about it the next time she returns?” Cynthia suggested, shrugging when Severa didn't respond. “Anyway, I gave the other one to Lucina,” she said, pointing to her, “so she has something of Mom's, too.”

  
Severa glanced at Lucina beside her. Her hand had slipped from the blanket, and the ring glinted as it caught the light of the fire. She slept deeply, her body overcome with exhaustion after the day's events. Severa watched over her for a moment before she gently tucked Lucina's hand back under the blanket.

  
The fire had died down again, so Severa reached past Cynthia and stoked it with the sword once more. It flared up, and so Severa leaned back and watched as embers sparked up and disappeared into the night sky.

  
“I don't understand what my sister sees in you,” Cynthia stated, shattering the quiet moment. “You're never anything but grumpy and mean and super serious.”

  
Severa grimaced at the harsh criticism, but before she could retort, Cynthia spoke again.

  
“At least, that's what I've always thought about you. But then I heard about how you took care of her- of us- these past couple days. How you stood up to the officers and did all that other stuff for her so she could rest and- and grieve.” She hastily wiped away some tears. “I was watching you today.”

  
“I know,” Severa remarked, remembering the feel of Cynthia's eyes boring into her back as she walked beside Lucina. She'd finally had enough of it and devised an excuse to go scout ahead, suggesting that Lucina go walk with Cynthia in her absence.

  
“I saw how much you care about her, in the way you looked at her with such gentle smiles, like you did just now.” A small smile tugged at the corner of Cynthia's lips. “And, well, I think I get it now. I'm think I'm maybe even a little bit jealous of her.”

  
“Get what, exactly?”

  
“Why she loves you. You don't care about just her, you care about everybody. Even me, and you're never nice to me.”

  
Severa grunted noncommittally.

  
“I know you went scouting so that I could spend time alone with her. And you were worried when I showed up here unaccompanied. You're like a double-agent; a meanie that was secretly a nice person this whole time.”

  
Severa rolled her eyes at the childish descriptor, but still blushed despite herself. “Go to sleep, Cynthia,” she replied, thankful that Cynthia couldn't see her embarrassed reaction in the low light of the fire. “It's late, and we have more marching to do tomorrow.”

  
“Is there room for one more under there?” Cynthia asked, hopefully eyeing the makeshift blanket.

  
“Fine. Just don't wake her up,” Severa conceded, expecting Cynthia to sleep beside her sister. She was surprised when Cynthia lifted the blanket and settled down beside her instead.

  
She felt Cynthia latch tightly onto her, and when she took a deep breath she felt the weight of Cynthia's head upon her shoulder. Minutes passed. Severa immediately noticed a growing damp spot on her tunic, a sure sign that Cynthia was crying.

  
“Hey, Severa?” Cynthia called softly.

  
“Huh?”

  
“Do you think- I mean, now that Mom's gone...” She trailed off into a hesitant pause, during which Severa felt more than heard her sigh. “Do you think your mom could train me? Next time she comes back. I- I want to fight. I want to do my part.”

  
Severa searched blindly for Lucina's hand on her other side, brushing her thumb lightly over the back of Lucina's hand as she held it.

  
“Yeah,” she answered honestly despite knowing Lucina would be upset with her. “I think she'd love to.”

  
She felt Cynthia nod against her shoulder. Over the next few minutes Cynthia's breaths grew shallower and slower, a clear indication that she was asleep. Cushioned between the two princesses, Severa was thankfully unaffected by the cold of the night.

  
She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep with a frown on her lips.

* * *

 

Severa gave a small start as the heavy wooden door of the castle's armory slammed shut behind her. Even though she'd been back in the capitol for a few days already, she was still used to the canvas flaps of the field tents that sounded little but a brush of fabric in one's wake. She felt a light blush on her cheeks, embarrassed about being easily startled even despite a lack of witnesses.

  
She sighed as she looked at the piles of weapons before her, the progress of a project she'd started the day before. Much like the makeshift armory at the camp, the royal armory's supply of usable weapons was dwindling. Severa took it upon herself to sort them into varying stages of necessary repair, from loose axe handles that could easily be repaired to blades that were more useful being smelt into new weapons.

  
Stepping toward the pile of yet-to-be-sorted weaponry, she kicked a carelessly discarded tome with her foot. Picking it up for closer inspection, she determined it was fated to be fuel for a fire, and tossed it into a pile of similarly fated tomes. Turning back to the heap of weapons before her, she pushed her sleeves up with a huff and then set to work, hoping to distract herself from thoughts of her mother, the disparate shape of the capitol, Lucina...

  
She frowned at the thought of the elder princess.

  
_Queen now_ , she thought with a rectifying grunt.

  
It had now been a week since they had learned of Queen Sumia's death.

  
The remainder of the march to the capitol had been uneventful. Lucina had made an effort to chat, though it was obvious that her thoughts were still focused on her mother. Severa, would rather have walked in silence, but didn't object to Lucina's attempts at normalcy. The idle chitchat was more for Cynthia's sake, as she had decided to walk with rather than behind them. As the army had drawn nearer to the capitol, however, Lucina had grown more despondent. As they passed through the city's main gates, Severa instantly understood why.

  
The city was mournfully decorated with black banners, and the palace even more so, an unwelcome reminder of the queen's death just days prior.

  
The remaining members of the dwindling Ylissean court immediately swept Lucina away, insisting that she participate in an official coronation for the sake of boosting the public's morale. There was time for little more than a kiss on the cheek before she was ushered out of Severa's sight.

  
Severa distracted herself with chores, spending the first day working in the stables with Kjelle. They found Cynthia there caring for Phila, who was making a rapid recovery. Busying herself with bathing the horses and cleaning out their stalls, she was thoroughly amused when Lucina joined them at some point in the late afternoon, no doubt having slipped away from the court without notice. Her suspicions were later confirmed when she heard someone run by outside, desperately calling Lucina's name. She turned to find Lucina curled up against Phila with Cynthia, the two of them earning some much needed sleep under the watch of their mother's faithful steed.

  
_Served them right, those old court geezers_ , she thought now, tossing a sword with a dull edge into the “to be repaired” pile.

  
Yesterday Severa had volunteered in the army's mess hall, peeling and chopping vegetables for hours in preparation for each meal. She'd worked alone for the most part, which was why she'd been pleased and yet not surprised to find that Lucina had found her late in the afternoon, having once again escaped from her royal duties. They sat quietly together peeling potatoes, subtly exchanging small smiles and intimate touches all the while. A shared glance with a slight arch of Severa's brow was the only invitation Lucina needed for a potato peeling competition to begin. Though it ended in a draw, Severa considered it a win, as after its end Lucina laughed at the sight of them covered head to toe in bits of potato peel.

  
Her laugh was short but genuine, the first time she'd laughed in weeks.

  
Severa kissed her then. She was hesitant at first, but Lucina was quick to return it. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, but that didn't keep Severa from feeling guilty about taking pleasure in their burgeoning relationship while the world at war was collapsing around them.

  
Lucina reluctantly left after one last embrace, her responsibility as the Exalt requiring that she return to the castle for more council meetings.

  
Severa stood and tested the weight of an axe, deciding that it was in decent enough condition to be put to immediate use.

  
_She can't afford any more distractions right now. When she shows up today, perhaps we should talk about putting some distance between us_ , she thought grudgingly as she set the axe in the “ready for use” pile. She frowned upon noticing that that pile was the smallest of them all.

  
Turning her attention to the bows, a weapon about which she knew very little, she was reaching for a longbow when the armory door opened behind her with a resounding bang.

  
She spun around to find Lucina bracing herself in the doorway, her chest and shoulders heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She was staring at Severa with a shocked expression, and Severa wondered for a fleeting second if Lucina could somehow have heard her last thought.

  
_She's early today_ , Severa noted as she acknowledged Lucina's presence with a small head nod and then turned back to the bows. She could feel Lucina's gaze burning on her back, its intensity growing stronger as Lucina's heavy footsteps drew closer.

  
“Severa,” Lucina whispered, still out of breath.

  
“Woah,” Severa huffed as Lucina hugged her tightly from behind, bringing her full weight to bear upon the shorter girl. “Get off of me,” she ordered half-heartedly. “It's hot and you're heavy.” She placed her hand on Lucina's to move it away but froze at the sight of their mothers' silver rings side by side.

  
It was in that moment, as she stared at the matching rings on their joined hands combined with the feel of Lucina's heart beating frantically against her back, that a sudden realization struck her.

  
In her memory of when her mother had confessed to loving someone other than her father, she assumed that her mother had been staring fondly into her cup of tea and daydreaming about the late Exalt, when in fact-

  
“She was staring at the ring,” Severa gasped, frowning as the newer memory of her mother's heartbroken smile the day after Queen Sumia's death drifted to mind. “Hey, Lucina,” she started pensively, “we need to ask my mother about-”

  
Lucina's sharp intake of breath stopped her.

“Wait, are you crying?” Severa asked, noticing Lucina's subdued sobs.

  
Lucina offered a simple nod in response.

  
Severa stepped out of Lucina's hold and turned to look at her, her concern growing as she took in the sight of Lucina's freely falling tears.

  
“Why are you crying?” she asked, her anger growing at whomever was responsible.

  
“I'm crying for you,” Lucina reached down and gently took Severa's hands in her own, “because I know you won't, Severa.” She fought back more tears as she held Severa's gaze.

  
Severa looked up at her in evident confusion. “Why would I-”

  
She was interrupted by the loud and harried approach of footsteps in the hallway. Lissa appeared in the doorway then, and Severa gasped when she saw the tattered banner in her hands.

  
“Severa,” Lissa said calmly.

  
“No.” Severa slowly backed away from Lucina. She quickly glanced from Lissa to Lucina, and then back to the familiar banner clutched in Lissa's hands. She grasped at her chest, her heart clenching as the painful memory of her last words to her mother played through her mind.

  
“Severa, dear,” Lissa tried again, cautiously approaching her with an outstretched hand. “I'm so sorry.”

  
“No!” Severa yelled, tears filling her eyes despite her protests. “Not Mom! She always comes home!”

  
She fled the armory, knocking into Lissa in her haste. She heard them call after her but kept running until she had exited out into the palace courtyard.

  
She stumbled to a halt, any remaining color draining from her face at the eerily familiar sight that befell her.

  
It was a circle of soldiers, and at its center was a pegasus, injured and riderless, its once pristine white coat stained heavily with blood.

  
She fell to her knees and ripped Cordelia's ring from beneath her tunic, clutching it to her chest as she cried a desperate, heart-wrenching cry.

  
A hand rested gently on her shoulder and she instinctively turned toward it, collapsing into its owner's hold.

  
Safe in Lucina's arms, Severa wept.


End file.
